Mueller Appears Halting and Quiet in Long-Anticipated Hearing
Mueller Appears Halting and Quiet in Long-Anticipated Hearing
(Bloomberg) -- Robert Mueller spoke haltingly and quietly as he answered questions in public for the first time since being appointed to investigate Donald Trump more than two years ago.
The former special counsel, who made clear from the start that he didn’t want to go beyond the findings contained in his 448-page report, appeared subdued Wednesday as the hearing got underway, asking lawmakers to repeat their questions multiple times and even mispronouncing Trump’s name at one point.
House Republicans repeatedly accused Mueller of over-stepping his mandate during his 22-month investigation, and Mueller offered little or no defense to some of their attacks.
"Volume II of this report was not authorized under the law to be written," Republican John Ratcliffe of Texas said. "It was written in violation of every DOJ principle about extra prosecutorial commentary.”
Mueller didn’t say anything in response.
The 74-year-old Mueller’s frequent pauses and seeming difficulty answering lawmakers’ questions stand in stark contrast to his authoritative performance at congressional hearings during his tenure as FBI director, a position he held from 2001 to 2013.
On Wednesday, Mueller faced an unusually challenging situation: He was restricted in what he could say by Justice Department rules, including not discussing matters related to ongoing investigations. And as a private citizen, he no longer had the benefit of Justice Department resources to prepare for the high-pressure hearing.
Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler twice had to ask Mueller to speak into his microphone.
After a short break, Mueller engaged more in responding to questions from lawmakers and appeared to have more energy.
For example, he elaborated on why he didn’t consider whether Trump should be charged with obstructing justice, saying he was prohibited from doing so by Justice Department policy.
Still, at other points, lawmakers appeared to be offering him prompts for his answers. Democratic Representative Ted Deutch asked Mueller why Trump wanted to fire him.
"I can’t answer that question," Mueller said.
Deutch followed up by reading from Mueller’s report that the investigation found that Trump wanted to fire Mueller because of the investigation.
Mueller replied: “That’s what it says in the report. I stand by the report.”
Democrats didn’t press Mueller to read from his 448-report. Instead, they read passages from the report and simply asked Mueller to confirm that the reading was correct. Mueller didn’t help lawmakers by volunteering to elaborate.
Some Republicans used their questioning opportunities to raise unproven theories about the allegedly tainted origins of the investigation. Mueller, in rigidly sticking to the report, didn’t challenge their claims.
Trump and members of his family appeared to be watching Mueller’s testimony. The president tweeted a quote from a Fox News host, while his two sons, Erik and Donald Jr., issued tweets about the hearing.
“Funny, Muelller can’t understand the Republicans but he can totally understand the Democrats questions. This is a disaster for dems,” Trump Jr. wrote.
Outside critics of Trump seemed unnerved by Mueller’s performance.
“This is delicate to say, but Mueller, whom I deeply respect, has not publicly testified before Congress in at least six years,” David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, wrote on Twitter. “And he does not appear as sharp as he was then.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net;Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert
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